


Accidentally In Love

by ring_around_the_daisy



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean is also a bit of an ass, Gabriel taking the place of donkey, Kali as a dragon, M/M, Prince Castiel, Shrek AU, but still an angel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 21:38:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5221844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ring_around_the_daisy/pseuds/ring_around_the_daisy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a bunch of supernatural creatures end up invading Dean's land, he sets off on a quest to find Prince Castiel. The elusive prince, however, has a curse on him that, if not broken, turns him into a demon at sunset and a human again at sunrise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dean was a demon, there was no getting around that. His eyes were solid black, there were horns sticking out of the side of his head, giant bat like wings sprung from his back and he even had a mother fucking tail. He was the thing people told scary stories about over a camp fire or used as blackmail by parents to get their children to behave. If people saw him, they'd come running out with their pitchforks and torches, chants of 'Kill it!' ringing through the crowd. No one liked a demon and Dean had resigned himself to that. So, he lived by himself on a stretch of land that he guarded as his own. Signs were around the edges, saying 'Beware of Demon' and things like that. For the most part, it worked. Still, there were always the idiots that came tromping through in an attempt to slay the demon and get a reward from whatever village was wanting his head this time.

"Remember, demons are vicious. They'll snatch you up and break your neck without a second thought." said the man leading the procession.

"Well, actually, those would be dragons. Demons, however, are much worse. They'll flay your skin off piece by piece. They'll pull your muscles apart ligament by ligament. Your bones will break crack by crack. All this will happen before they let you die but your pain won't be over then either. They'll take your soul and enjoy sucking every good feeling from it until you're left with every bad thought you've ever had for eternity." said Dean, leaning against a tree.

His black eyes flicked towards the villagers again as his wings spread out behind him and he moved towards the center of the dirt path. When he stopped, he was directly in front of the leader and stared down at him. The villagers eyes were wide with terror and everyone that stood behind him was the same. Then, a torch was being shoved in Dean's face, the villager waving it around and telling him to get back. In response, Dean simply licked his hand and used it to put the fire out. The palms of his hands were so heavily calloused from working outside that they felt almost like leather and the burn of the fire was barely felt.

"Hey, this is the part where you run away." whispered Dean, leaning closer before giving them a smile full of sharp teeth.

Not having to be told twice, the villagers dropped their pitchforks and high tailed it out of his land the way they'd come.

"And stay out!" yelled Dean, hoping this would buy him a few more weeks before they decided to try and kill him again.

Shaking his head, he turned around and straightened the signs they had trampled over on their way to skewer him with their pitchforks. 

"Idiots." said Dean before disappearing down the dark path again, tail dragging itself along the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fan art was drawn by leo-arcana on Tumblr. Here is a link to her blog so you can see more of her artwork: http://leo-arcana.tumblr.com/


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriel was being pulled along by the person who had decided they owned him. Handcuffs with strange symbols kept his powers useless and his wings dragged on the ground behind him, a scowl on his face. Apparently, Lord Metatron(or, as Gabriel liked to call him, Metadouche) had put out a hit list on all supernatural creatures. They interfered with his perfect kingdom and, because of that, weren't allowed to live in it. People had gone crazy capturing creatures and were selling them to the Lords knights for profit. While Gabriel was pissed that he was being sold like an item, he could sort of see why they were doing it. These people were poorer than dirt and with the kings high taxes, they were barely surviving.

As they entered the clearing where the other creatures were being shoved in boxes like cattle, Gabriel quickly tucked his wings into himself, making them disappear. He'd had them out on the walk there because his captor had threatened him with punishment if he hid them. Now, the oaf wasn't even paying attention to him more than just dragging him along as he walked up to a knight that was sitting at a table and writing on parchment.

"Yes?" said the Knight, looking bored out of his mind.

"I have an angel here. Take him, he's more trouble than he's worth." said the man, jerking Gabriel forward.

"An angel? That's good for ten shillings. You know, if you can prove it." said the Knight, glaring down at Gabriel.

"Prove it? Can't you see his wings?" said the man, gesturing wildly at the empty space behind Gabriel's back. When he turned and saw that they wings were hidden, he raised his hand to slap Gabriel. "Why you....get those fucking wings out."

Gabriel just looked between the red faced man and the knights gathered behind the table.

"I have no idea what he's talking about. This weirdo just grabbed me one night, cuffed me, and said that I would pretend to be an angel so he could make some quick money." said Gabriel, lying smoothly.

"What? No! He's an angel! His wings were out the whole walk here!" yelled the man, yanking the key from his pocket. "Here, I'll prove it."

One thing Gabriel had learned about the man is that he got angry very easily and then ended up doing a lot of things out of anger. Once the key had unlocked the cuffs, Gabriel sprouted his wings and grabbed the man and threw him to the side. Flapping the six wings he possessed, he rose far enough above the ground so that the knights were unable to grab him.

"Ha! You may have seen an angel with two wings, maybe even four, but not one with six wings!" shouted Gabriel, flying away at his leisure. What he hadn't accounted for was the fact that a tree had been behind him. There was a definite crack in the wood as he collided with it before falling to the ground. In an instant, the guards were rushing forward to capture him. Knowing he couldn't fly in the forest, there not being enough room for his wings, he tucked them in and started running.

He was checking behind him to see how close the guards were to catching up with him when he ran headlong into a very solid body. This knocked him back on his ass and he looked up, seeing a very pissed off looking demon. Knowing this demon was probably his only chance at not being caught since he couldn't fly here, he scrambled to his feet and hid behind him.

The charging knights rounded the bend in the woods but came to a halt when they saw Dean. Eventually, the leader of the group stepped up and undid a scroll, starting to read off of it.

"As decreed by Lord Metatron, all Supernatural creatures are to be arrested and thrown out of the kingdoms land. You are hereby under arrest and I have the right to ship you both off with all of the others." read the knight, his metal suit clanging as he shook inside of it.

"Oh yeah? You and what army." said Dean, leaning forward.

The knight looked behind him and saw that all of the men who had come with him had fled. His eyes flickered back to the demon before he dropped his scroll and ran away as well.

Dean shook his head before turning around and seeing a small man standing behind him.

"Why aren't you running away?" said Dean, crossing his arms and standing to his full height.

"Are you serious? I can't go back there! I don't want to be captured again!" protested Gabriel, dusting himself off a bit as he talked.

Dean nodded and stood still for a second, looking like he was considering what the man in front of him had just said. Then, without warning, he grabbed Gabriel around the neck and slammed him again a tree, getting in his face and baring his sharp teeth. This usually worked to scare anyone off who wasn't immediately terrified by just his appearance alone. The man who was slammed against the tree, however, didn't seem phased by this at all. Dean held him there for a few more seconds before dropping him and starting to walk away.

"Wow, you are scary. Though it might be good to invest in some breath mints because pal, you could probably knock someone out with that stink." said Gabriel, getting up again and running after Dean.

Dean paused and looked over, seeing that Gabriel was by his side again and didn't seem to be going away any time soon. It was honestly new to him to have someone who wasn't scared shitless by his appearance alone.

"So, what's your name big guy? I'm Gabriel but you can call me Gabe." said Gabriel, keeping up with Dean even though he had to go into a half jog to do so.

"Uh....Dean." grunted the demon, confused by how calm the person beside him was acting. Hopefully, the annoying pest would get bored soon and go into another part of the woods so that Dean could enjoy the rest of his day in peace. He didn't feel like having to babysit a pint sized man who seemed to have enough energy to rival that of a toddler on a sugar rush.

The further he got into the woods, the faster his pace went and the faster the man beside him walked so he could keep up. Eventually, he turned around and cornered the man who just had a questioning look on his face.

"Why are you following me?" demanded Dean, black eyes focused on Gabriel.

"Because, Dean-o, I have nowhere else to go and you seem the like the safest place to be. No one is gonna wanna mess with us. A demon and an angel, side by side and kicking ass." said Gabriel, pushing Dean back by the chest so he could get a little breathing room. "Also, you might want to work on your personal space issues. That could bother some people."

"Well, you know what bothers me? Annoying angels who don't know when to leave someone alone." snapped Dean before pulling back and continuing to walk at a fast pace before he came to a downward slope. He slowed his pace down here if only for the sake of not rolling down it and face planting in one of the mud puddles.

"Hey, you have wings. Why don't you just fly?" asked Gabriel, popping right in front of Dean now that he enough room to use his wings again.

"Because I prefer walking." said Dean before shoving the angel aside and moving towards his house.

Truth be told, demon wings weren't made for flying as much as they were just there to make them look threatening. The skin was too thin as were the bones to support him in flight. The highest he could get off the ground with them was probably a foot and that only lasted a few seconds before he was forced to land again. Really, his wings were more of a liability than an asset and if not for the fact that removing them would hurt like a motherfucker, he'd gladly get rid of them. There had been way too many times when they'd gotten tangled up with branches and he'd had to take the time to free himself without causing gashes that would end up bleeding for hours.

 Dean stopped in front of his house and looked over at Gabriel who was looking at him expectantly. "Don't you have anywhere to go?"

"Nope, I'm all alone Dean-o." said Gabriel before pausing for a few seconds. "Hey, could I stay with you?"

"No. I'm a demon and demons live alone." said Dean before opening the door. Before he could even step inside, though, Gabriel had already waltzed in and sat himself down on a chair.

"Hey, I like it here. Kind of dark and gloomy with a touch of looking abandoned." said Gabriel, leaning back in the chair and propping the feet up on the table.

"Did you hear what I said? You are not staying with me." growled Dean, glaring at the angel who had made himself comfortable on one of his chairs.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with cherry's and whipped cream on top?"

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Pleeeaaassseee!"

"Alright! You can stay but outside. I am not sharing my house with anyone." said Dean, stalking over to the angel and picking him up by the back of his shirt. He dragged him to the door and tossed him outside before slamming the door shut and locking it for extra measure.

"Fucking angels." grumbled Dean.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean had decided to do some hunting in the woods. He was running low on his jerky supply and it also would be nice to have some fresh meat for once. He'd been putting hunting off mostly because villagers had been prowling the woods and he didn't feel like dealing with them just yet. Now, with them all scared off, he was able to walk through his woods as he pleased without worrying about a thing. As he started making his way back towards his house, he thought he saw a fire going. That was odd since he hadn't even set a fire yet. Thinking it was just a trick of the light, he pressed forwards until he broke through the clearing.

What he saw made him want to turn around and go back into the woods for a while. All around his land were creatures. There were vampires, werewolves, shifters, skin walkers, ghosts, ghouls, basically every supernatural creature he had ever heard of. He dropped his hold on the buck he'd been dragging behind him and marched forward, storming into his house. There, even more creatures were huddled and he started picking various creatures up and tossing them outside. Every time he tossed one outside, though, more came running back in and then eventually pushed him out of his own house and slammed the door in his face.

Growling, he pounded on the door before deciding it was no use and addressing all of the other things that had invaded his private land. Scanning the crowd, he saw Gabriel talking with some witches and he motioned for him to come forward. He waved Dean off at first, more than content with flirting with the pretty women he now had himself surrounded with. They were all marveling at his wings and how big they were, also commenting on the nice gold color they possessed. Dean, however, wasn't willing to just let Gabriel enjoy this little party that was going on.

Stomping over, he gripped the back of Gabriel's collar and lifted him off the ground to face him.

"What the hell is this? When I said you could stay here, I meant outside and alone." said Dean, getting really close to Gabriel's face.

"You know, buddy, you might want to back off. It kind of looks like you're coming onto me right now." said Gabriel, flashing a sassy grin at Dean.

When Dean's only response was to roar at him, however, he dropped it and shrugged.

"Hey, I didn't invite them." said Gabriel, looking at a loss for once.

"Well, no one invited us. Lord Metatron signed an eviction notice on us, saying we were too much of a shame on his perfect kingdom." said a witch with a heavy Irish accent.

Dean let go of his grip on Gabriel, sending the angel to the ground to land on his ass. Going to the front of the clearing, he yelled to get everyone's attention. When they fell quiet and turned their eyes on him, he straightened up and puffed his chest out a bit.

"Listen up all supernatural....things. Do not get comfortable here, this is in no way permanent. I am going to march up to Lord Metatron's castle and demand that he send you all back where you came from." said Dean.

The response of all the creatures cheering was one he hadn't exactly expected.

"Now, who knows where this Lord Metadouche lives?" asked Dean.

The crowd in front of him fell silent, many pairs of eyes just staring back at him. Then, a certain short angel was jumping up from behind some people, waving his hand in the air.

"I know where he lives!" shouted Gabriel, bouncing up and down like a two year old on a sugar high.

"Okay....does anybody else know where to find him?" asked Dean. He wasn't exactly ready to spend a days long journey with the fucktard he couldn't take being with for just five minutes.

"I do! I do! Pick me! Pick me!" shouted Gabriel, still bouncing up and down.

"Okay, fine. Gabe, you will show me how to get to this douchebag's castle." grumbled Dean, not exactly thrilled with the journey he had ahead of him.

"Yeah! Just you and me on a whirlwind adventure. It'll be great, Dean-o." said Gabriel, putting his wings away and jogging forward to keep up with the demon.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere, in the kingdom its king liked to call Heaven, Lord Metatron was walking with purpose. His guards had just captured another one of those things and had them chained up for him to interrogate. As he walked in, he could see a body lying down on the metal table, chains rested over it to keep the person down. Once he was standing over the person, he could see it was a girl, a demon. She had black eyes, horns coming out of the side of her head, wings that were currently tied down, and a tail that was thrashing about. She was looking at him with the utmost hatred but Metatron just gave her a wicked smile.

"Well, hello there sweetheart." said Metatron, leaning down so he could leer over her. 

"Go to hell." spat the demon, obviously not wanting anything to do with him.

Metatron just tutted and picked a knife up. He tested the sharpness with a gloved finger before bringing it down and nailing the girl right in her thigh. To drive the point home a bit more, he twisted the knife inside the hole he'd just made in her leg. While the girl screamed, she still didn't look like she was ready to talk to him. Shaking his head, he grabbed more knives and started to carve into her before he heard the girl cry uncle, saying she would give him the information he wanted.

"That's a good girl." said Metatron, pulling the knives out and setting them to the side. They were all dripping with blood, some of it already having dried onto the metal.

"Okay. Do you know where forks lane is?" said the girl, her voice barely above a whisper.

Interested now, Metatron leaned forward so he could hear her better. "Yes, I know where that is."

"Well....she lives near forks lane." said the girl, clearing her throat in an effort to talk clearer.

"She lives near forks lane..." mused Metatron, leaning back and rubbing a hand under his chin.

Before he could ask any other questions, his guards came storming in, carrying a heavy object that had a sheet over it.

"We found it, my lord." exclaimed one excitedly.

Eyes widening, Metatron rushed forward, wanting to be the first one to get a good peak at it. "Well, what are you waiting for? Hang it up!" Soon, the mirror was hung up on the wall using an old hook that had previously played host to a painting. However, one of his torture victims had gotten blood on it so he'd thrown it out, saying it was too tainted to be in his perfect kingdom.

After the sheet came off and it landed on the floor, there was a swirling that happened inside the mirror before a face appeared. The face inside of the mirror was that of a middle aged man with dark hair as well as a dark beard. The look on his face was annoyed, like he was really not appreciating having been rudely awakened from his extended slumber.

"Mirror, mirror. Is this not the more perfect kingdom of all?" mused Metatron, arms crossed smugly in front of him.

"Well, it would be. You know, if you were actually a king and not just parading around as one." snapped the mirror, the British accent coming out clearly.

"Ahem." said Metatron, glancing at one of his guards. The guard pulled out a hand mirror and punched it, much of the glass falling down to the floor. Upon seeing this, the mirror's eyes widened and he cleared his throat, ready to fix his attitude if it meant not getting broken into a thousand pieces all over the floor.

"Well, you're not a king yet. But you will be if you marry royalty. And, as it would happen, I actually have some eligible people for you to look at." said the mirror before disappearing, a picture of a woman with curly blond hair and a heart shaped face replacing his image.

"First we have Princess Jessica. Pretty thing this one is. She's kind and sweet, just what you want in a princess and she enjoys costume parties and watching the stars." said the mirror, a slightly nervous tinge in his voice.

Next, a picture of a raven haired woman with tan skin and warm brown eyes showed up. She had a slight smirk on her face as she leaned against a stone wall. You could easily see that there was a spark in her.

"This is Princess Lisa. She has spunk and is stubborn as hell but a tiger in the bedroom." said the mirror, allowing Metatron to get another look at her before it flashed to the last picture.

Now, this one was of a prince. He had messy dark brown hair, an angular face, a 5 o'clock shadow as well as brilliant blue eyes. He was on the tall side but not overly tall and he had a medium build. You could tell that he was strong but, again, not overly so. There was a bit of a sullen look on his face as he stared off into the distance, his face basically saying that he'd rather be anywhere than in that picture at the moment.

"And, finally, this is Prince Castiel. He's aloof and doesn't have too much to say. He's currently hidden out in a faraway castle that is guarded by a fearsome dragon, just waiting for someone to come and rescue him." said the mirror before dissolving the image to bring his to the forefront again.

"Yes, yes. That's all fine and good. What kingdoms are they linked to, though?" said Metatron. Honestly, he didn't give a rats ass what the person looked like as long as they could help form a powerful alliance that would make him a super power in the world.

"Oh, well, Princess Jessica is from the Kingdom of Lawrence. They're a moderately sized kingdom with a small army but have a thriving agriculture business. Princess Lisa is from the Kingdom of Cicero. They are a bit larger but, again, their military is on the small side. However, they are rich with exports of various things they are able to make within the kingdom's walls. Prince Castiel belongs to the Kingdom of Far Far Away. This is a sprawling kingdom with a sizable military and a booming economy filled with shops as well as agriculture and exports." said Crowley, his voice sounding bored as he listed these facts for the man in front of him.

"Okay, that settles it. I choose Prince Castiel. Then, once everything is finalized, I can shove him off to another part of the castle and we'll only have to see each other for formal events." said Metatron, stroking his beard as he muttered to himself.

"Guards, assemble all the subjects as well as the knights. We are going to have a little tournament." said Metatron, turning and walking out the door.

The mirror just looked after him smugly, not about to divulge the secret it knew about what happened to Castiel once the sun went down.


	4. Chapter 4

Dean did most of the walking up to the kingdom in silence, ignoring all of Gabriel's attempts at small talk. The only thing he cared about was the directions the annoying angel would say from time to time to guide them to the right place. They eventually came to a large vegetable patch which had a sunflower field beyond it. He hated flowers since they would always get pollen all over him and make him sneeze relentlessly for hours. Shaking his head, he stomped through, not really caring if he was ruining someones hard work or not.

Once he had finally freed himself from the sunflower field, he was covered in pollen and sneezing up a storm. Snot had ended up projectiling from his nose and onto the ground, making gross looking puddles as he went forward, trying his best not to step in it. It wasn't until he felt a hand on his arm that the pollen seemed to disappear from him and along with it his allergies. He blinked and looked down at himself, surprised that all the little black dots that he'd been covered in were now gone.

"You're welcome, by the way." said Gabriel, walking ahead with a smug look on his face.

"Uh...thanks, I guess." said Dean. He wasn't exactly used to people doing something nice for him.

As Dean came up to the castle itself, he snickered a bit and cast a look over to Gabriel.

"Think maybe he's compensating for something, eh?" said Dean, nudging Gabriel in the side with his elbow.

"Oh, he is definitely compensating for something. I'm guessing you can't even find his dick with a microscope." said Gabriel, offering a snicker of his own.

Dean was caught just slightly off guard with that and started laughing. He didn't laugh much, didn't have much reason to. The most he would do normally is chuckle softly at his own jokes before going back to being silent. He probably hadn't heard a joke in years, him not having encountered another demon in just as long. It seemed that even other supernatural creatures would go heading for the hills, screaming, when they saw him so socializing hadn't really been in the cards for him.

"Sorry. Haven't heard a joke in a long time." said Dean, straightening up and wiping a tear from his eye. As he walked away, he didn't see the slight look of pity Gabriel gave him before following behind like he had been.

When Dean made it up to the person who seemed to be the greeter to the kingdom, things went a little downhill. The guy, predictably, got scared of Dean's appearance and started to run away.

"Hey! Stop! I'm not gonna kill you, I just need directions!" said Dean, walking forward with his hand up.

The guy seemed to be too blinded by fear and ended up running into a wall. Dean was sure he had heard a crack in his head but wasn't going to stop to make sure. It wasn't his fault that guy had been stupid enough to run head first into a fucking wall. When he reached the entrance, he was puzzled to find a turn stall there. Who the hell used a turn stall? Shrugging to himself, he grabbed onto the railing and hopped over, being sure to keep his wings tucked close to his body so they wouldn't get injured. He'd only taken a few steps forward when he heard a splat. Looking behind him, he saw that Gabriel had face planted on the ground, apparently trying to copy what Dean had did but his legs weren't long enough.

"Get up." said Dean, walking back over and helping the angel to his feet again.

There was a certain stillness to the whole kingdom that was unsettling. Everything also seemed to be in place. It was too quiet and too organized. No public place ever looked this good unless it was closed. Knowing this couldn't be right, Dean continued on but stayed alert, not wanting to get jumped and have to fight people off when he didn't have to. It wasn't long, though, before he became aware of the sound of candy wrappers crackling before being thrown to the ground. Looking over at Gabriel, he saw that his companion had been eaten mini candies and throwing the wrappers on the ground.

"What are you doing?" said Dean, grabbing the candy from him.

"Eating chocolate. Want some?" asked Gabriel, turning to Dean. You could now see a noticeable ring of chocolate around his mouth from his snack.

"No I do not want some. We are supposed to be staying quiet, not walking around crackling candy wrappers. Eat it later." said Dean, dropping them back in the little bag Gabriel had been carrying by his side.

"Aye aye, captain." grumbled Gabriel, a heavy note of disappointment clear in his voice.

Turning away, Dean continued to walk forward, head looking from side to side to make sure no one was going to come out from behind him and try to kill him. After a bit, he started to hear the cheering of a crowd and decided to follow that. When in doubt, go where everyone else is. He came face to face with two heavy wooden doors, the roar of the crowd almost deafening now. Assuming this was where everyone was, he pushed open the doors and stepped through. No one seemed to be paying him much attention, they were all focused on the apparent lord of this land.

Up on a large platform stood Lord Metatron. He had a crown on his head and a cape around his shoulders, basking in the applause he was being given before raising his hands up to silence his subjects. After a few minutes, they fell silent and looked at him expectantly.

"Thank you, thank you. Now, I have gathered you here today for the honor....no, the privilege of rescuing Prince Castiel from the fire breathing dragon. Some of you may die but that is a sacrifice.....I am willing to make. If the winner is unsuccessful, then the first runner up will go and so on and so forth." said Lord Metatron, staring down at the knights he'd convened to fight for the chance to rescue the person who would officially make this a kingdom.

Dean had by now caught sight of the lord and was making his way forward, knowing he was going to have the best chance of getting a word in with him now. Before a word can get out of his mouth, though, a woman screamed and the crowd looked at him in horror. Not the best of reactions but certainly ones he was used to by now.

"Gah, it's hideous!" yelled Lord Metatron, scrunching his face up in disgust.

"Oh, that's not very nice to say. It's just an angel." said Dean, deflecting the insult even though he knew that it was clearly aimed at him.

"Change of plans. First one to kill the demon wins. Go." said Lord Metatron before sitting back on his throne to watch the blood bath.

"Shit..." said Dean to himself as he started backing up. He took a quick peak to see if he had anything behind him he could work with. There was a barrel full of beer, if he could knock it open then that would already take care of most of them and the ones left would be easy to handle.

"Aw, come on guys. Can't we settle this over a beer? No?" said Dean, reaching beside him and grabbing a mug. He dumped the contents of the giant glass into his mouth, swallowing it all in about three gulps. "Have it your way then." he said before bringing the glass down on the spout and creating a giant hole in the barrel. Almost immediately beer rushed out like a geyser, bowling through the knights who'd been standing in front of it. "Come on? Can't catch one little demon?" shouted Dean, knowing this would antagonize them and make them slip up.

Laughing, he jumped out of the way of lunging knights who were slipping in mud. The fight when on for about ten to 15 more minutes, Gabriel helping out by mowing some down with a full barrel of beer and tripping even more up with his wings. When all the knights were down and Dean and Gabe were still standing, the crowd was cheering, roaring applause moving through them. Unable to resist, knowing he'd probably never get an opportunity like this again, he soaked it up, actually smiling as the praise only seemed to grow. That was cut short, however, by the guards that surrounded the top of the castle drawing crossbows with all arrows aimed directly at him.

"What is it you want, demon?" asked Lord Metatron, now standing and leaning over the balcony wall a little bit.

"I want you to get those supernatural creatures off of my land and back where they came from." said Dean, back to being angry about the reason he had originally come here in the first place.

"Hmm....you know what? I'll cut you a deal. You go on a quest for me and I give you your land back." said Lord Metatron, looking rather smug with the proposition he'd just laid out.

"And the squatters?" said Dean, not wanting to jump into something if it was too good to be true.

"As good as gone." assured Lord Metatron, raising an eyebrow as he silently said 'so, what do you say?'

"What kind of quest?" said Dean, sure he could do whatever this king wanted if it meant getting his land back.

"Oh, nothing really. Just rescuing a prince from a tower that is guarded by a fire breathing dragon. I'm sure you could manage. You are related to those things, right?" said Lord Metaron, his voice passing off as nonchalant.

"Oh, yeah. My brother is actually a fire breathing demon. No one messes with him." said Dean, sarcasm heavily laced into his voice.

"Then you should have no trouble. Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind." said Lord Metatron, a scowl now forming on his face.

In Dean's trademark sassiness, he gave Metatron a mock salute before turning around and heading out of the fighting arena to find this prince so he could get his land back.


	5. Chapter 5

Dean was walking through the vegetable patch again, a thanks grunted at Gabriel when he once again cleared the pollen from his clothes. Every so often, he'd stoop to pick up a vegetable or two to eat. He hadn't had a proper meal yet so this would have to do. He was perfectly fine with walking in silence, the sound of chewing being the loudest noise. He was even willing to put up with the crackling of Gabriel's candy wrappers if it meant the angel would keep his trap shut.

"You know, Dean. There's something I don't understand. Why'd you take the quest? Why didn't you just, you know, storm the castle and take your land back by force?" said Gabriel, looking over at Dean. His voice was slightly garbled by the fact that he currently had three chocolates stuffed in his mouth but Dean could still understand him.

"Oh, would you have liked me to go flying in like a dragon, kill everyone in sight, and say that I would kill the king too if he didn't give me my land back? That sound good to you?" said Dean, getting in Gabriel's face.

"Uh...no, not really. We need to talk about your personal space issues Dean-o. That could really come across the wrong way to others. Lucky for you I don't have a problem with it." said Gabriel, going right back to eating chocolate and talking Dean's ear off.

"There is a lot more to demons than just killing people and destroying everything in sight." muttered Dean, not really wanting to get into the whole discussion on the humanities of demons.

Demons had been given their name because of their appearance. As far as Dean knew, his species was the result of a bunch of other species mixing in with a common ancestor for humans and that resulted in his breed. Demon's weren't inherently violent, they didn't automatically want to kill everyone and stomp out happiness. It was everyone else that overreacted to their extreme appearance, thinking they were the anti-christ or something and wanting to kill them. So, as a result, most demons had taken to living alone or in small groups in deserted areas. Humans still managed to find them from time to time, sometimes a demon or two being a casualty, but it was most of the time very easy to beat them back and get their peace back. You know, until they decided to come storming against them again.

"Oh yeah? Like what? So far, I've only seen your violent side." said Gabriel, turning his head towards Dean again as he wiped the chocolate off of his mouth.

"Okay....demons are like...onions." said Dean, that being the vegetable he could draw an analogy from the quickest.

"You stink?" said Gabriel, wrinkling his nose and raising an eyebrow. It was obvious that angel wasn't getting Dean's point.

"No." said Dean, shaking his head.

"They make you cry?" said Gabriel, tilting his head.

"No." said Dean, his voice shaking a bit as he got more irritated.

"Oh! You leave them outside too long and they start growing little white hairs..." said Gabriel, stroking his chin with his thumb and index finger.

"NO! Layers! Onions have layers, demons have layers! We both have layers, okay?" said Dean, throwing the onion to the ground and stomping ahead. He was now wondering how quickly he could make it to a creek to dump Gabriel's body if the angel got too annoying. Killing him seemed like a splendid idea right now.

"Oh....you both have layers...Not everyone likes onions, though. Oooh! Cakes have layers!" said Gabriel, jumping a bit as he rushed to catch up with Dean.

"Demons are not like cakes, jackass." said Dean, now rubbing his temples in an attempt to dispel his growing headache.

Grumbling, he continued on, hitting Gabriel on the head whenever he tried to open the conversation again. Eventually, the angel shut up, muttering about how it isn't good to keep all your feelings inside or some shit like that. Hours passed as they walked, another day passing before they found the mountain they needed to start climbing. It was made of brimstone which gave off the smell of someone passing gas. It wasn't exactly pleasant but Dean had encountered worse so it didn't make him flinch or heave. Gabriel, however, seemed to not take the smell in stride like Dean did.

"P'ew! Dean, did you cut one? You have to warn someone when you do that. Gah, that is nasty." said Gabriel, pinching his nose and wiping some imaginary tears from his eyes.

"If that was me, you wouldn't even be questioning it. It's brimstone, we're getting close." said Dean, sniffing the air a bit before continuing on. Soon, he ended up having to climb rather than walk and when he reached the top, he took a second to look over the castle. It was stained black with ash and, when he looked down, he could see the pit of boiling lava the castle was perched above. All that connected the castle to the other side of the mountain was a rickety wooden bridge that looked like it could give out at any moment.

Shrugging, he hopped over and started to make his way to it. Before he could take more than one step on the bridge, though, a hand had grabbed his wrist and stopped him. Raising an eyebrow, Dean looked behind himself and saw Gabriel there looking freaked out.

"Come on. You're an angel who's afraid of heights? Really?" said Dean, almost unable to believe it.

"Not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of flying over a boiling lake of lava. Angel or not, that shit is terrifying." said Gabriel, staring down at the bubbling red liquid.

Dean rolled his eyes and yanked his hand away from Gabriel. "Just don't look down and you'll be fine. Now get your ass moving. We don't have all day." He then grabbed Gabriel and set him in front of him, deciding that would be the easiest way to get the angel across the bridge. "Move it." snapped Dean, giving Gabriel a push forward so he could start making his way to the other side. The sooner they got over the bridge, the better.

"Uh...okay. Don't look down. Just don't look down." said Gabriel, turning around and holding his head almost comically high. While he would normally just fly across something like this, the air was thick with ash and all his wings would do is cloud everything up. They wouldn't be too much help in this situation. He'd made it halfway across when he stepped on a loose plank that then dropped down towards the lava. Since the loose plank had caught him off balance, he gripped the rope on the sides of the bridge and was looking down at the lava. "Dean, I'm looking down and I do not like what I see."

"Oh, come on. You're already halfway there. Just move it." said Dean, pushing forward and taking Gabriel with him. For the last bit of the crossing of the bridge, Gabriel kept trying to get around Dean and Dean just kept moving forward, looking like he couldn't even feel Gabriel's movements. Demons and angels had about the same level of strength so usually it came down to who was bigger. Since in this case that was Dean, he could keep moving forward even with Gabriel acting as a dead weight.

"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!" muttered Gabriel to himself, eyes squeezed shut and hands curled into fists. This mini mantra continued until his feet crossed over to solid ground and he peaked one of his eyes open. "Oh....that wasn't so bad. Good thing neither of us panicked, right?"

Dean rolled his eyes at Gabriel before moving forward. Just inside the castle he could see the charred remains of the other knights who had attempted to rescue the prince before. He let out a low whistle before putting some of the armor on. He was able to find a helmet that attached around his head, making his horns look more like an accessory to the armor than anything. His wings were tucked tightly around him so as to avoid getting caught on anything. He'd passed a few skeletons before he found one with a cape. That would do the best at shielding his wings from debris.

"Where do you think the prince is going to be anyways?" said Gabriel, raising an eyebrow at Dean. He'd donned some armor as well though it looked more like a costume on him.

"He'll be in the highest room of the tallest tower. That's how all this fairy tale crap goes." said Dean, starting to walk through the halls, "Make yourself useful and find some stairs, would ya?"

Gabriel gave Dean a mock salute and started to split off, looking for the dragon. Knowing no one would be caring about any littering going on, he popped a few more candies in his mouth and let the wrappers fall to the floor. Everywhere he turned he seemed to come to dead ends but it felt like someone was watching him. This made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and caused him to look over his shoulder a lot. It wasn't until he was face to face with a giant eye through a window that he knew he'd found the dragon.

"Dean! Kind of need your help here!" shouted Gabriel before turning and bolting away. No way was he going to be a meal for a dragon.

Meanwhile, Dean was searching through some of the random passageways when he heard Gabriel's screams. He turned in time to see the scared angel running towards him, a trail of fire behind him. "Shit. Guess we found the mother fucking dragon." There were sounds of walls collapsing as the dragon came closer, obviously intent on getting Gabriel as its next meal. While part of him would be alright with letting Gabriel get eaten simply because that would mean he was rid of the winged nuisance, he knew he wasn't that heartless. Not yet anyways.

He turned around and started running back towards the dragon, hoping to distract it in some way so that Gabriel could make a sort of escape or at least get away from being barbecued by it. When he finally made it over to the dragon, he could see that it had the collar of Gabriel's shirt in its mouth and was carrying him away somewhere. That was a bit odd seeing as how dragons usually just ate their meals right away. Still, it gave him time to save Gabriel from getting eaten.

Dean grabbed a hold of the dragon's tale, attempting to pull it back. Even with his strength being twice that of an average human, it wasn't much use against a two ton dragon. It did annoy the dragon, however, and distracted it from its hold on Gabriel. The angel fell down with a clanking noise and the dragon reared its tail up. Dean held on for dear life, praying that it wouldn't bash his brains out against the stone. What ended up happening, though, was the dragon flinging him hard enough to dislodge his grip on the tail. This sent him flying and eventually crashing through a glass window to land on his back. He could've sworn he felt a few of the bones in his wings break as he laid there trying to get his breath back.

When he could finally sit up properly, he saw a man with disheveled brown hair sitting in a chair in the corner of the room with a book in his lap.

"Here to rescue me, I suppose?" asked the man, his voice a deep gravelly tone.

"Yeah, that's the plan. Now come on." said Dean, lunging forward and grabbing the mans hand to pull him down the stairway.

 


	6. Chapter 6

"Woah, woah! Stop for a second! Are you even going to tell me your name?" protested the prince, digging his heels into the stone to bring himself to a halt.

"It's Dean. Now come on before the dragon finds us." said Dean, grabbing Castiel again and yanking him forward.

"You didn't slay the dragon? You're supposed to slay the dragon first!" said Castiel, fighting just to keep up without tripping over himself.

"I can see all the others attempted that shortly before dying." said Dean, winding his way through the halls, trying to listen for sounds of Gabriel. While Dean was an asshole most of the time, he wasn't going to leave the angel to die. So, when he got to the exit, he set the prince there and ran off to find Gabriel. The cape he was wearing was getting really hot and the urge to stretch his wings out was getting stronger. He wasn't about to risk getting them caught on something or having the prince freak out at the sight of them before they'd made it out of the castle. The freaking out could happen when they'd reached safety.

Following the sounds of protests, he saw that the dragon had cornered Gabriel on a stone pillar. Dragons themselves were shape shifters except their human form looked like they were covered in scales. The same was true for the one that had Gabriel trapped. She seemed to be running her nails down the side of his face, body language clearly saying she wouldn't mind breaking a few stones with him.

"Hey, dragon!" yelled Dean, knowing he needed to get her attention so Gabriel could make a getaway.

A roar sounded out and he watched as the woman shifted back into a dragon form. Turning, he started running away, picking up a sword as he did. Once he'd lured the dragon where he wanted to, he cut the rope holding a chandelier up. The metal structure came crashing down, landing around the dragons neck like a collar. With the dragon still chasing him, he started to run every which way, knowing she'd get tangled up and that would stop her from eating him. As he caught sight of the exit, Gabriel beside the prince with his wings stretched out, Dean pushed himself further to get to them.

"You sure you can fly all of us over?" yelled Dean, rushing them out and trying to be heard over the dragons deafening roars.

"For this distance, yes. Grab on!" said Gabriel, reaching out to both the prince and Dean. Two sets of hands clasped tightly to him and he took off. The ash that filled the air was blown around by his wings which brought visibility down to zero. To make sure they made it, Gabriel just kept flying forward. As his feet touched down, he looked behind himself and saw the dragon caught by the collar and leash Dean had managed to get on her neck. In her anger, she'd also managed to burn down the wooden bridge so now she had no way to get to them, even if she did go back to her more human form.

Dean gave the castle one last look before ushering the other two down the mountain, warning Castiel to watch his step. After his feet touched down to the grass, he could see that the sun was now high in the sky. That just made him sweat more inside the metal helmet as well as down his back. It was becoming a real pain to keep his tail totally tucked up like that just so he didn't catch sight of it.

"Am I now allowed to see the face of my brave rescuer?" drawled the prince. Dean couldn't tell if his voice was dripping with sarcasm or if that was just how the guy spoke.

"Yeah, no. Trust me, you don't want to see my face." said Dean, shaking his head and starting forward. He was beginning to think the prince would drop it when he felt hands starting to grab at his helmet. "What the hell? Stop it!"

"I want to see your face! You rescued me now show me your face!" yelled Castiel, still battling to get the helmet off.

"Let go of me!" grunted Dean, still trying to ward off the attacking prince. For a guy with such a lanky build he was pretty strong.

After a bit of struggling, it seemed like Castiel had finally let it go. This only gave Dean a few seconds of reprieve before he was tackled and the clasps on the helmet were undone. Cool air hit his face as the helmet was removed. Knowing he had nothing else to hide now, he threw Castiel off of his back and stood up, taking the cape off as well. His wings stretched out behind him, the muscles working after being held in such a tight position for so long. His tail was now resting along the ground, also thankful for not having to be tucked under the cape anymore.

"Oh, you're a demon." said Castiel, fiddling with his hands before looking away.

"Yes, I'm a demon. Are you happy now?" said Dean, crossing his arms and squeezing his eyes shut. "Anyways, I'm not wanting your hand in marriage or whatever. I'm taking you to a kingdom and the ruler there, Lord Metatron, is the one that wants to marry you."

Castiel looked over at Dean again before brushing some of his hair away from his face.

"Well, if he wants to marry me so bad, he should have come here instead of sending a demon to do his dirty work." said Castiel, bitterness clear in his voice.

"You can ask him why he didn't when we get there. Come on." said Dean, hoping the prince would drop the attitude and start walking.

"You know what? If Lord Metatron wants me so badly, he can come get me himself. I'll just wait here." said Castiel, sitting down on a rock and folding his hands in his lap.

"Sorry, sweetheart. Can't have you doing that." said Dean. This was all the warning he gave before picking Castiel up and throwing him over his shoulder. The prince wasn't nearly the heaviest thing he'd picked up so it was pretty easy. It stopped being easy when the prince started grabbing at his wings.

"Hey, cut that out. You don't see me trying to pull parts of your body off, do ya?" said Dean, turning his head to look over the princes back.

Gabriel had been trailing behind for a little while now, more interested in watching the show that was unfolding before him. The prince didn't seem afraid to play dirty as was demonstrated with the wing pulling. Seeing this, Gabriel tucked his wings in again, not wanting to have them yanked on either. He reached into the bag he carried over his shoulder and took out another sweet. There seemed to be an endless supply in the bag. Either that or the bag was just deeper than it looked.

Dean got a grip on the princes back and then started pulling on his leg, hearing a groan of pain.

"See? Doesn't feel too good, huh?" said Dean, pulling a bit harder. His grip on the prince went back to being loose but firm when the prince let go of his wings. "You don't grab at my wings, I won't try to pull your leg off. Deal?"

The journey continued for a while longer, Castiel and Gabriel eventually starting to talk to each other. Dean stayed silent, mostly focused on keeping the prince over his shoulder and walking through the forest. The balance issue of carrying the prince like this was a bit tricky seeing as how the prince seemed to only be a few inches shorter than him. Eventually, he'd found a good spot to hold him and kept that up as they walked on.

Some more time passed when he was going over a stream. He set the prince down on his feet because he could already tell he wouldn't be able to get over the gap carrying him. Before he could toss the prince to the other side, he was pulling Dean back. Knitting his eyebrows together, Dean looked back at him. "What now?"

"We need to find a place to stay for the night. I don't want to travel in the darkness." said Castiel, crossing his arms.

"Uh, no. That will take longer. Let's just keep going." said Dean, disregarding what Castiel had said.

The prince caught him off guard when he reached forward and got a tight grip on Dean's shirt, yanking him towards his face. "You don't understand. I need a place to camp now." This was said in a low tone that ended with a slight growl.

"Okay, fine. I'll set you set up with something." said Dean, taking Castiel's hands off of his collar. "Let's just get over this space. I think there's a cave up ahead." 

Without much warning, Dean grabbed Castiel set him on the other side of the stream before making the jump across himself. The flapping of wings was heard before Gabriel caught up to them, still chewing on candy and letting the wrappers drop to the ground. "If someone were tracking us, all they'd have to do is follow your candy wrappers." said Dean, rolling his eyes. Gabriel simply shrugged, not really caring too much. "Maybe if you had some, the stick that is up your ass would loosen a bit." 

Dean scowled at the angel, hearing the prince snicker a bit behind him. "You, shut up." he said, pointing a hand back at Castiel. The laughing was cut off with a cough and Dean turned around and marched ahead of them to find a space for Castiel to camp out in for the night. When he found one, he stood by it and did a mocking gesture inside of it. "Here you are, your highness."

Castiel rolled his eyes at Dean and looked around for something to act as a door. Finding a piece of wood that was rotting off a nearby tree, he pulled it off and went inside before putting it in place.

Dean just looked at the door for a moment before exchanging a look with Gabriel. "He seems like a prude."

Some time passed and the moon and stars were out, a nice fire going and the flames flickering as it burned on. Dean had gotten the fire together relatively quickly, accustomed to having to get one started every night at his home. He'd left for a few minutes before coming back with a few small animals he then roasted over the fire. They cooked through and he gave one to Gabriel and set one outside of the makeshift wooden door. "I made dinner if you're interested." This was said softly before he went back to sitting by the fire and started eating himself.

"Hey, Dean, I have a question for you. What do you have against the whole world anyways? You seem to just be mad at everything." said Gabriel around a bite of meat.

"Nothing." grunted Dean, not in the mood to talk about his feelings with the angel.

"Oh, it's something alright. Is this one of those onion things?" asked Gabriel, turning more towards Dean, giving him his full attention.

"No, this is one of those I am going to throw you off the side of the cliff if you don't drop it things." said Dean, getting more irritated.

"C'mon, lets talk about it. Talking is healthy." said Gabriel, nudging Dean a little bit.

"And yet I've lived alone in silence all these years. Remarkable, huh?" said Dean, sarcasm dripping heavy off of his voice.

"Talking'll make you feel better." said Gabriel, nudging Dean even more with his elbow.

"I'm good, thanks." said Dean, turning away from Gabriel, not wanting to have this conversation now or any other time for that matter.

"I think your whole endgame for this quest is so you can be in complete isolation. Who are you trying to keep out?" said Gabriel, appearing in front of Dean and sitting down again.

"Everyone, okay?! No one likes a demon! People try to kill me regularly when I don't even hurt anyone! My mom was killed because people couldn't handle the fact that my kind deserves to live too! My dad got killed trying to avenge her! I gave up trying to get people to like me a long time ago! No one wants me! They all think I'm gonna suck their soul out or something equally as awful! I'm worse than the scum beneath their shoe to them!" said Dean, now on his feet and yelling,"People see me and automatically want to kill me. They judge me before they even get to know me."

Dean slumped back down on the rock he'd used as a seat, folding his arms in his lap. His eyes closed and he hung his head, feeling utterly defeated.

"You know, when we first met...I didn't think you would suck out my soul or that you were scum..." said Gabriel, putting a half smile on his face and a hand on Dean's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know Gabriel. I know." said Dean, not bothering with his act of being tough for now.

From inside the cave, Castiel stood listening to every word that was said. A sick feeling started in the pit of his stomach, guilt for how he'd treated Dean. He'd treated him like every one else did and hadn't even given him a chance. It was even hypocritical of Castiel to do that. He knew Dean's pain, he lived it every night. A resolve formed itself in Castiel's chest as he backed away from the door. For the rest of the journey, he was going to treat Dean properly, not like he was scum or horrid. If anything came from this, maybe it could be that Dean gained a good friend, if only for a few days.


	7. Chapter 7

Dean woke up the next morning laying on his stomach with his head resting on his arms. There was a warm weight resting above him and he blinked his eyes open and looked back. He saw three big wings resting over him like a blanket. Grunting, he sat up and pushed the wings off of himself. A few stray feathers landed on him and he picked them off individually before standing up and dusting himself off. Sniffing the air, he could smell something cooking and he turned towards it. The fire was going again and Castiel was hunched over it, focused on something intensely. Mildly curious, Dean walked over and looked over his shoulder. Over a hot stone were eggs and off to the side were various fruits.

"You gathered all this?" asked Dean, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck while his brow furrowed.

Castiel jumped slightly, not having expecting Dean to be up yet. His shoulders relaxed though and he looked behind him at Dean. "Uh...yeah. I figured you two would be hungry this morning." He quickly turned his head away and carefully took the eggs off the stone and transferred them to another one. "I found an abandoned nest so I took the eggs. There were a few fruit trees around so I gathered some of that so we could all have a nice breakfast."

Dean just nodded and gathered some fruit and took a seat off to the side. He reached over and grabbed the egg nearest to him and just shoved it into his mouth. After all, he didn't have anything to cut it with and an egg was bound to get running very quickly. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Castiel looking at him with an expression of mild disgust on his face. Dean quickly swallowed and wiped the yolk off of his mouth with the back of his hand. Looking down at his lap, he took an apple and bit into it. While he wasn't too huge on fruit, just about anything would taste good right now since he hadn't had anything to eat yesterday. He'd abandoned his dinner after yelling at Gabriel.

Gabriel woke up to the sound of talking and turned his head over to it. Seeing food, he jumped up and quickly walked over. "Hey, thanks for the food Princey." He grabbed an egg and ate it much the same way Dean had. Catching the same look from Castiel, he simply shrugged. "What? If you know of a neater way to eat this then please let me know." Looking over at the fruit, he grabbed a few places and sat down as well to gorge on.

Castiel shook his head looked down at the last remaining egg. For a bit he just sat there trying to think of a neater way of eating the egg than just shoving it in his mouth. When he wasn't able to, he grabbed the egg and tried to fit it in his mouth as completely as he could so as not to get yolk over his mouth. A little bit did leak out, though, and he caught it with his thumb and licked it off. He could taste a bit of dirt with the egg but figured it wouldn't kill him. It was better than not eating at all. Grabbing an apple, he bit into it and they all just sat there for a bit eating. A comfortable silence was among them, the most prominent sound being that of their chewing.

Once everyone had their fill, Dean stood up and took one of the bigger stones and used it to smother the rest of the fire. When it stopped burning, he stepped back and wiped his hands off on his pants to get most of the ash off of them. Scratching his face, he could feel that stubble had started growing on his face. He'd just shave when he got back home. He stretched out a bit, groaning slightly as he did so and his wings went out to their full length before folding behind him again. "Come on, let's head out."

Dean walked on as he heard footsteps following behind him. The prince seemed to be a lot more cooperative today for some reason. Honestly, Dean didn't care about the reason so long as the prince wasn't a huge pest the entire time. While he could carry him, he didn't exactly want that to continue for the entire way back to the kingdom of 'Heaven.' The sun continued to rise above them as they went on but eventually they came to a forest which offered some much needed shade. It was as they were passing through a clearing that things started going south.

Castiel had taken a slight lead in the group, enjoying being able to walk and not being confined to that room. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw something and he paused, turning towards it. That was all the warning he got before a person had their arm wrapped around him and was swinging him up into a tree. He held onto the person only for the fact that he didn't want to fall off the tree and break something.

"Hey, sweetheart. Looks like I've just saved the day." said the person who had nabbed him.

Looking over, Castiel saw it was a woman. She had curly brown hair, a heart shaped face, and seemed to be incredibly strong for her small size. He got caught by surprise when she grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss. His eyes bugged out and he pushed her away before wiping his mouth off with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Hey, that's my prince. Go and find your own, asshat." yelled Dean, walking closer to the tree branch Castiel had been swung up to.

"I found the one I want and I plan on keeping him." said the woman before grabbing a vine and swinging down. She landed in front of Dean and pulled out a sword, holding it against his chest.

Dean glanced to the side and saw that some other people had come out from the forest and were stepping on Gabriel's wings and holding a blade to his throat. Looking back at the woman, he growled and got ready to fight. He wasn't about to just roll over and let this bitch kill him. He'd taken on worse than her and he could win against them like he always won against a mob. Just as he was tensing to fight, though, he saw Castiel coming swinging down from the tree. Not wanting to be barreled over either, he threw himself to the side and watched as the prince landed a square blow to the back of the woman's head with his boot.

Castiel let go of the vine when he was close enough to the ground and turned back to see the woman struggling to get up. He could see who must be the woman's cronies starting to converge, obviously not taking kindly to their leader being mowed down like that. Knowing it would be best to use what was around him to narrow down the opponents, he grabbed a fallen tree branch and used it to knock them off of their feet. He punched another in the throat and when one jumped on his back he flipped them over and caused them to land hard on the ground. The last three who weren't dazed came at him and he punched one in the jaw, elbowed another in the ribs hard enough to hear a crack, and kicked another with enough force to send them knocking into a tree.

There were groans heard all around as they got up and started to retreat. Two went and grabbed their leader and in about two minutes, they were out of the clearing. You could see blood over certain areas and there was a bit of debris everywhere from the fight. Still breathing hard, he turned to look at Gabriel and Dean who were just staring at him with open mouthed shock.

It took Dean a while to snap out of it before he was rushing over to follow Castiel as he continued their journey. "Hold up. Where the hell did that come from? That was....that was awesome."

Castiel shrugged and looked over at Dean, a smile tugging itself at the corners of his lips. "When you live alone you kind of have to know how to defend yourself. Let's just say some of those knights weren't killed just by the dragon."

"So...you're a murderous prince?" asked Dean, raising an eyebrow in slight confusion.

"No, some of them weren't worthy in my eyes so I would get them out of my room and then the dragon would take care of the rest." said Castiel, shrugging as he continued on.

"Honestly, looking at you man, I would not expect you to know how to fight like that." said Dean, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't judge people before you get to know them." said Castiel, a smirk taking over his features.


	8. Chapter 8

A small smile came on Dean's face before he continued walking. Still, he could feel a bit of pain in his thigh but ignored it, thinking he'd just pulled something. It wasn't until a horrified expression came over Castiel's face that he paused. "What?"

"Dean, there's half a blade buried in your thigh." said Castiel, walking over and pointing to it.

Gabriel looked behind Dean and let out a low whistle as he saw it too. "Oh, yeah. It's buried in there alright. I'd heal you but I can only do that when the wound is clear. There is nothing I can do until the blade has been pulled. I'd be happy to do it, though." said Gabriel as he reached over to the blade.

Dean's eyes widened and he jumped to the side. "Uh, no, I'm good....thanks. I'll get it myself." He reached back and started to pull it out, teeth clenched, but had to stop because the pain was making him dizzy. Looking back at his leg, he saw that the part of the blade that was out was covered in blood and more was leaking out of his wound. Looking over at Gabriel, he pushed the angel away as he saw him reaching for the blade again. "No, you are not ripping a blade out of my leg."

There was only a split second where he could try to think about what to do before the blade was pulled out the rest of the way. Turning to look behind him, he saw the prince holding the blade and waving it around. Before he could really focus on the pain, though, Gabriel had put his hand over Dean's thigh and the skin healed and the pain went away.

"No one is touching me for the rest of this journey." said Dean, folding his arms over himself before he continued on.

"You're welcome, by the way." said Gabriel, his voice annoyed since his contribution to getting the wound taken care of had been dismissed.

After a bit, Dean's tense posture loosened and his arms fell back to his sides again. He could see that Castiel was walking a little too close to him but didn't say anything about it. He was busy trying to prevent his wing from wrapping around the prince. He was delivering this guy to Lord Metatron so he could get his land back as well as his solitude. He couldn't afford to feel anything. He knew from experience that feelings only made you vulnerable and were a slap to the face when everything eventually fell through.

It turns out, though, that he'd been so focused on his wings that he completely forgot about his tail. It wasn't until he felt eyes on him that he looked over and saw Castiel raising an eyebrow.

"What?" said Dean, none the wiser to what his body was currently doing.

"Um...your tail....It's wrapped around my waist." said Castiel, looking down at it.

Dean's face flushed and he immediately took his tail away and ended up wrapping it around his own leg for extra measure. Behind him, he could hear Gabriel snorting away at what just happened but ignored that in favor of looking at the ground and avoiding all eye contact.

"Hey, you know, we should stop to have something to eat. It's not good to travel on an empty stomach." said Castiel, stopping and looking over at Gabriel and Dean.

Dean was about to protest when he thought of something. If they stopped to eat, it could buy him a bit more time to spend with this guy. Castiel intrigued him and was exactly the opposite of what he'd expected. He hadn't been genuinely interested in someone for a long time and he found himself craving more contact. Someone to talk to would be nice, someone who didn't annoy the ever loving crap out of him.

"Okay, let's just set up camp then." said Dean, looking up at the sky. The sun was a bit lower which meant that the end of the day was near.

"I'll go get firewood. I'll probably be gone for a while." said Gabriel, winking at Dean before disappearing into the forest.

Dean drug his hand down his face and shook his head. That angel was really going to get it someday. That someday was getting closer and closer every time it opened its mouth. Deciding that he had better things to do than to think of ways to kill Gabriel, he went and sat down by a tree. Castiel came over a second later and sat close to him. Again, this was closer than what seemed appropriate but Dean wasn't about to correct him on it. He'd only get to talk to him for one more day and that being generous.

"So, do you believe in all this fairy tale crap or are you just along for the ride?" asked Dean, looking over at Castiel, one of the corners of his mouth tilting up slightly.

"It had been drilled into me since I was a kid that this is what I had to wait for. Originally, from the books I'd read, I'd thought that I'd be marrying a princess and we'd start our own kingdom together. As time went on, though, I just wanted someone to come in and save the day." said Castiel, shrugging a bit.

Dean resisted the urge to look upset by the response he'd gotten. Of course this guy would be expecting a beautiful woman to marry and not the creep that waited for him. Right now, he felt sorry for this guy since after tomorrow, he'd be hitched to Metadouche for life or until that creep kicked the bucket.

"So, if you had a choice in all of this...what would you choose?" asked Dean, probing a bit further. For some reason, it was popping up in his head that if he got some sort of validation that a guy like him could possibly like a demon, that would make everything okay. At the very least it would say that not everyone would rather he die old and alone.

Castiel chuckled a bit and looked down at his lap before returning his gaze to Dean.

"Honestly, I'd like to choose someone that I knew. I'd like to make my own choices in life, regardless of what was best for everyone else. Everything has been decided for me, my whole life planned out before I even got a chance to live it. I want to rip up the rule book and throw it away and decide for myself, even if those choices would be considered scandalous." said Castiel, leaning slightly closer to Dean.

Dean could feel his mouth go dry suddenly and he swallowed in an attempt to get more saliva in his mouth. His eyes flicked down to Castiel's mouth before going back up to his eyes again. Slowly, he started to lean in, seeing Castiel do the same. His heart sped up a bit, thinking this would actually happen. That all went to hell, though, when Gabriel came walking back into the area and Dean nearly hit his head on the tree from reeling back so hard.

"Oh, was I interrupting something?" asking Gabriel, a look of fake innocence written on his face.

"Nope, nothing at all." said Dean, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding all eye contact.

Once his embarrassment was at a more manageable level, he went over to Gabriel. "Can you make the fire?" asked Dean, not too sure about trusting him with this. The two fires that had been made so far had been done by Dean while Gabriel sat back and watched.

"You don't have enough faith in me. Go hunt or whatever it is demons do for food." said Gabriel, waving Dean off.

Sending a prayer to nowhere, Dean stepped away and retreated into the forest. It didn't take him long to find a sizable rabbit. Rabbit was very good to eat and would give them all a decent meal. Dean had gotten hunting down to a science by now, able to get a kill within a few seconds and this was no exception. When he reappeared to the others, he was carrying a rabbit by its foot and taking out his pocket knife. Sitting down, he laid the rabbit out on a stretch of stone and began skinning it. He heard a gagging noise, though, and looked over at Castiel.

"What? Can't handle some butchering?" asked Dean, a smile in his voice.

"No, I'm fine. Go ahead. Don't mind me." said Castiel as he turned directly away from Dean.

Chuckling, Dean finished skinning the rabbit and then set up a spit roast so it could cook evenly.


	9. Chapter 9

Dean cooked the rabbit all the way through and divided the slices out to the other two. He'd been careful to not make his cuts too deep or else he'd dip into the intestines which was something no one wanted to taste. When he ended up finishing, he wiped his mouth with his shirt for lack of napkins around. Grabbing a nearby stick, he poked the fire a bit to keep it going, seeing some of the embers starting to cool. Overall, despite his injury, it had been a pretty good day. He was able to have a meaningful conversation without Gabriel in ear shot and the angel had been not so much of a pest this time.

"Oh, would you look at that sunset." said Gabriel, laying on the grass and looking up through the trees.

"Sunset? Oh, I need to go. I need to..." stammer Castiel, looking panicked.

Dean sat up straighter, not understanding the sudden rush to find a place to hole up in now. Because of the panic on Castiel's face, though, he figured he could find something quickly enough. The look of absolute terror made him feel pity for the prince. While he had no idea what the fear was based on, it was pretty significant to have him looking like he was about to cry.

"Uh...okay. I'll find something." said Dean, standing up and dusting his pants off. Walking around a bit, he looked for anything that could act as a shelter. Eventually, he came to a burrow that looked like it had once been home to a large animal but was now vacant. "Uh....I found a burrow if that's okay."

"Oh, yes. That's perfect. You go back to the fire and I'll climb in there." said Castiel, rushing past him and practically diving in the hole.

Dean wasn't too sure about how comfortable that could possibly be but decided not to question it. Shrugging, he walked back to the campsite and sat down beside the fire again, his elbows resting on his thighs. He was starting to doze off sitting up when Gabriel appeared beside him and got his attention again.

"Hey, Dean-o. It doesn't take much of a genius to figure out that there seems to be a certain level of chemistry between you and ole princey over here." said Gabriel, nudging Dean in the side with his elbow.

Dean rolled his eyes and scooted further away from the angel. "I'm just being friendly to make the journey easier on all of us."

"Oh, sure. I guess you were being really friendly when you were about to lay the old smoocheroo on him earlier." said Gabriel now waggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up. That wasn't what we were doing. He was talking low so I was leaning closer to hear." said Dean, his voice now taking on a very defensive tone.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say big guy. Anyways, I can tell that you two have a little something something going on. Why don't you just tell him? Not like anything permanently bad could happen." said Gabriel with a hopeful grin stretching across his face.

"Nothing permanently bad like living the rest of my life in shame for embarrassing myself so fully? No thanks." grumbled Dean.

"Dean, it doesn't take a genius to see that he's obviously into you to. Just go on and tell him." urged Gabriel once again.

"Even if there was something going on between us, which there isn't, he's a prince and I'm a fucking demon. If you haven't noticed, those two don't exactly go hand in hand." said Dean, now focusing on the fire.

"You never know unless you try." said Gabriel before disappearing in a flutter of wings.

Dean didn't know where he had gone and he honestly didn't care. At least now he'd be able to lie down and get a bit of sleep. When he got comfortable on the grass, though, rest didn't come. instead, he found himself staring up at the sky with Gabriel's words bouncing around in his head. Whenever he started to consider coming clean, he always shot the idea down by saying to himself that demons couldn't be loved by anyone without a disaster happening.

Over at the burrow which Castiel was currently holed up in, Gabriel was walking around and calling out for the prince. It wasn't until he caught a glimpse of something shiny that he saw a burrow in the ground. It seemed a lot larger than a regular one, obviously for a bigger animal. However, it also looked highly unused given the state the dirt seemed to be in. Following his instincts, though, he went forward before kneeling down and looking into the hole.

"Castiel? You in there?" asked Gabriel, leaning his head a bit closer to the opening of the hole.

When there was no answer, the angel reached inside and grabbed a hold of something solid and started pulling. The thing inside put up quite a struggle to stay were it was but Gabriel ultimately won out, having the advantage with his open space. As he finally dragged the inhabitant of the hole out and laid it on the dirt floor of the forest, he noticed a tail and wings.

"What the...." was all that was said before he realized he was looking at the prince. "Wahoah, look what we have here. So this is why you disappear before the sun goes down every night."

Grumbling, Castiel stood up and brushed the excess dirt off of his clothes. He shot an irritated look at the angel, his new body parts joining in. He'd taken off his shirt before the change had started, knowing how painful it was to have his wings trapped in confining fabric. "Yes, you caught me. Anything you want?"

"Actually, yes. But I have a few questions first. First off, why the hell does this happen?" asked Gabriel, raising an eyebrow.

"When I was a young child a witch cast a spell on me. It dooms me to turn into a demon every night until a kiss of true love breaks the curse." said Castiel, looking away from the angel.

"Really? A kiss of true love? Damn, how much more stereotypical could that witch get. Well, no matter, that just makes the rest of my speech easier. So, you know how Dean's a full time demon and you're sort of a half time demon? Well, you two seem to go together. Just wanted to tell you that Lord Metadouche isn't your only option here." said Gabriel, his face softening a bit.

"You don't understand. Demon's are hideous, uncivilized monsters. No one can love that. Everyone hates a demon, it's just common knowledge." said Castiel, his voice edging on desperation.

Behind one of the big trees stood Dean, his back pressed against it with his wings and tail tucked in. He'd stopped walking when he heard the talking, wanting to hear what they were saying. As he heard Castiel describing how ugly and disliked demons were, both his wings and horns drooped down. Of course, how could he fool himself into thinking he even had a chance. Castiel was a prince and probably just nice to him so the journey would go by easier. There was no way in heaven, earth, or hell that he'd be able to find someone he could quite possibly be in love with. As an ache formed in his chest, he slowly trudged back to the campsite.

"Do you understand now? That's why I have to marry Metatron. Only true loves kiss can break this stupid curse. Or else I'm doomed to this for the rest of my life." said Castiel, sitting down on the dirt floor and burying his head in his hands.

"Well, you should at least tell Dean the truth. The least you could do after all he's done for you so far." said Gabriel softly before walking away.


	10. Chapter 10

Dean had a fitful sleep through the night. All that kept playing in his head were Castiel's words about demons. He'd really had hope for the first time that someone who he liked would see past all of that. He was wrong, though. No one would ever see past the fact that he was a demon. He was too scary looking for anyone to want to make the effort. Castiel was probably just placating him this whole journey so the mood wouldn't be so tense. Well, he knew he wasn't going to make this mistake again. After he got his land back, he was going home and then attacking anyone who even dared to step on his land.

The rising of the sun woke him up, the light falling across everything and burning his eyes slightly. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and sat up, yawning and rubbing them. When he was sure he could see without pain, he opened his eyes and looked around. The fire was out and he seemed to be the only one around. Castiel was probably still sleeping and Gabriel was God knows where, not that he particularly cared. He'd been the one willing to talk to Castiel about his apparent hate of demons without any protests. Of course, even the annoying angel had been lying to him the entire time.

A little ways into the forest, Castiel was woken up by the change happening once again. The wings retracted into his body as did the horns and tail. It was a painful process as always but he'd learned to put up with it silently. When it was over he pulled his shirt back on and stood up, dusting his pants off. He'd been debating the whole night whether he should tell Dean about the curse or not. Looking down at the ground, he took a deep breath and decided he had nothing to lose. Screw Lord Metatron and his kingdom. It was time Castiel took control of his own life.

With a determined look on his face, he walked out of the forest and towards where Dean was standing with his back to him.

"Dean, I have something to tell you." he said, feeling a lightness in his heart that hadn't been there since he was a child.

Dean stiffened and turned around, fixing a glare at Castiel. It seemed now that the prince wanted to rub it in his face how much he hated demons. That was just fan-fucking-tastic. It had already been bad enough hearing it once but now he would have to hear the words said directly to him.

"Save it, asshat. I heard everything you said last night. No need to tell me anything." said Dean, clenching his fists to avoid punching the prince. The Lord probably wouldn't take kindly to having the prince delivered with a black eye.

"You..you heard what I said? But...I thought none of that would matter to you. I thought you would understand." said Castiel, taking a step back. He was absolutely stunned now. Was Dean really having a problem with the fact that he turned into a demon at night? Had he judged him that wrongly, not seen how big of a hypocrite he actually was?

"Oh, it really fucking matters. Like you said, how could love a hideous monster?" spat Dean, his anger bubbling up even more. That was the moment he heard hooves and looked over, seeing the cavalry arrive. This had been the designated meeting spot, something a guard had told him just before he left the fighting arena. "Your highness, I got you a little something."

Lord Metatron rode up on the lead horse, sitting tall and trying to have a regal air. It was obvious how arrogant he was just by the look on his face. None of that was helped by the fact that he wasn't even mildly attractive and had a grating voice. "Here you go, demon. The deed to your land. Take it before I decide to have it all destroyed." he said, handing the paper off to Dean.

Dean took it and nodded, walking away and opened it, scanning for any fine print that would cheat him of anything. He wouldn't push it past the dickbag to put something in there that put conditions on him keeping his land. While he was a recluse, he wasn't stupid. Once he'd read everything and made sure their were no strings attached, he rolled the paper up again and gave the lord a mock salute. "He's all yours."

"Prince Castiel, do you accept my offer for marriage? Together, our kingdoms could create a powerful alliance." said Metatron, making it clear where his priorities lied.

Castiel really did not want to marry him. He seemed disgusting and annoying. However, it didn't appear like he had any choice in the matter, not that he had a choice in anything he ever did. If this was to break the curse then he'd do it and stop the painful change that happened every night and morning. He glanced over at Dean who seemed to be observing the situation before snapping his gaze back to Metatron.

"Lord Metatron, I accept. I was just giving the demon a short goodbye." said Castiel, grinding his words out.

"Don't bother wasting pleasantries on the demon. Not like it has feelings." said Metatron dismissively.

Remembering what Dean had said to him only solidified the anger he felt. "You're right, it doesn't. Don't know how I could ever think it did."

Other knights came around and basically lifted Castiel onto the horse. Knowing he had no other choice to stay steady, he wrapped his arms around Metatron's armor. Touching the man even through thick metal made his skin crawl but he did it anyways, not seeing a broken limb worth not hanging on. The reins were snapped and he felt the horse lurch forward which caused him to hold on tighter. Looking up, he could see the kingdom in the distance and knew that soon everything would be finalized.

Dean watched the group of knights and horses ride away and tucked the deed into his pocket. It was done, Castiel would be a King or whatever and Dean would get to be by himself once more. He started to turn away so he could begin his journey back home when he nearly ran into Gabriel.

"What the hell are you doing, Dean? You're letting him get away! Listen, there's something about him you don't know-" started the angel before Dean cut him off.

"Oh, I heard you guys talking last night. You're great friends, huh? If you like him so much why don't you follow him home!" said Dean, getting in Gabriel's face.

"But-" started Gabriel, stunned at how Dean was reacting.

"Save it! I got what I wanted and I don't need anyone, especially useless, pathetic, fucking angels! Now stay the fuck away from me if you know what's good for you!" yelled Dean before pushing Gabriel aside and stomping off.


	11. Chapter 11

Dean made it home within a few hours and only stopped to take a piss when it was needed. When he got back, he saw the remains of the camp that had been set up there. Fire pits were little more than ashes and stone, makeshift tents collapsed in a heap of fabric and poles. He'd clean all that up later but now he didn't have the energy. Out of curiosity, he looked at the garden he kept and saw that it was picked bare from any food that had been growing there previously. His eyes narrowed, a bit of anger flaring up inside of him. Still, there was nothing he could do about it now. He'd just have to gather the seeds again and grow more plants for food.

Walking inside, he saw his house wasn't in much better shape. Dust was everywhere and chairs were overturned. It looked ransacked almost, things of value surely taken. He had a locked box buried underneath a loose floorboard and he went to check there. That box held money and his most valuable possessions. Pulling the floorboard up, he was relieved to find the box there and still full of all of his things. He put the board back in place and went about straightening his house again. A few hours passed as he straightened everything up, deciding to do a more in depth cleaning when he didn't feel so run down.

He walked over to his liquor cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey he'd been resisting the urge to open for a while. Taking out a glass, he poured a good amount into it and sat in his big chair, the bottle being set down on the end table next to it. Looking down at the amber liquid, he gave a bottoms up motion before downing the whole thing in two gulps. It burned down his throat but in a familiar way. It was something that no longer phased him since it happened so often. He was just starting to relax to the tune of getting drunk when he heard noise outside.

Groaning, he got out of his chair and walked over to a window and looked out. He was really hoping he wouldn't have to butcher some supernatural creatures that had wandered back onto his property. While he wasn't inherently violent, he had no trouble with becoming so given the current mood he was in. Instead, he saw Gabriel outside building what looked to be a wall. Except, the wall was going straight through his swamp, not around it. Narrowing his eyes, Dean walked out of his house, his door slamming behind him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Dean, walking over to the angel who flared his wings out.

"Well, out of all people I thought you'd recognize a wall when you saw one." said Gabriel before moving another rock into place.

"The wall is supposed to go around the land, not split it in half." said Dean, grabbing rocks and tossing them to the side.

"Yeah, it's going around your half. I did half the work so I get half the reward." said Gabriel, grabbing the discarded rocks and putting them back in place.

Dean grabbed a log and pushed against Gabriel's chest, getting him away from the stone. The angel, however, grabbed the log as well and pushed back. This was the first time he'd seen Gabriel as anything other than a harmless annoyance. He managed to push Dean back a good distance before Dean dug his feet in and did the same. The match of strength went on for a while, one gaining ground before the other quickly recovered it. Finally, Dean just dropped the log and watched as Gabriel fell before getting up again. Dean was already walking away, not wanting to hear anything else he had to say.

"Hey, you're always talking about yourself. About how the world did you wrong, how no one gives you a chance, how life is so hard. Well, you know what pal? It's my turn to talk." said Gabriel, grabbing Dean and pushing him against the wall of his house. Dean stood there a little stunned and pushed back but found that, for once, the angel had the upper hand here. "You are always a dick to me. I never get thanked for pulling your ass out of a fire. Who was it again that flew you away from the castle when the bridge snapped? Who was it who helped you take on the mob of knights? Oh, yeah, it was me."

Dean gulped as he looked down at Gabriel. There was a fire in the angels eyes that Dean really didn't want to mess with. While angels, for the most part, were known to be easy going they could turn vicious if pissed off enough. A little part of Dean's mind was worried Gabriel would fully snap and break his neck out of anger. That would just the be kicker though huh. He got his land back only to have his life taken by a pissed off angel.

"Well, if I treat you so fucking badly then why did you come back, huh?" snapped Dean, his eye narrowing.

"Because we're friends and friends don't just walk away from each other. The forgive each other." said Gabriel, loosening his hold on Dean a bit.

"Oh, you're right Gabe. I forgive you....for stabbing me in the back!" said Dean, pushing Gabriel back and standing tall.

"Stabbing you in the back? What are you even talking about?" said Gabriel, looking genuinely confused now.

"Really, you're going to play dumb? I heard you and Castiel talking in the forest. I heard what he said about me, how I was a horrible beast that no one could love." said Dean, crossing his arms while his wings flared out.

"He wasn't talking about you, dirt for brains. He was talking about....er...someone else. What he did say about you was that if he had a real choice, he would have liked to see where things went with you. He has feelings for you, you dick. But, instead, you took one part of the conversation out of context and now he's get married to Lord Metadouche." said Gabriel, looking exasperated.

"Wait...he wasn't talking about me?" asked Dean, his posture relaxing significantly.

"No. Now, if you want to have a chance at saving this fuck up you better come with me." said Gabriel, turning around and walking towards the forest a bit more.

"How could we possibly get there before the day is over? You can't fly me over there, Gabriel, I'm too heavy even for your wings." said Dean, a tone of defeat in his voice.

"No, but she can." said Gabriel, pointing over to a woman who was standing off to the side, scales dotting her skin. It took Dean a moment but he recognized her as being the dragon from the castle. He wasn't going to question this now. If she could get him to 'Heaven' before the wedding, he'd take it. There was a bit of a rumble before the woman transformed into a dragon again, red filling his vision. "Come on, slow poke. And hold on. I can't promise you won't fall to your death so just be warned."

Dean nodded silently before climbing up the dragon and finding a spot he could hold onto where he, hopefully, wouldn't fall off. The giant wings beat the air a few times before rising and he saw the ground get further and further away from him. His stomach lurched at that and he closed his eyes, not wanting to even think about how high up he was now. His eyes didn't open again until the dragon touched down and he slid off to get back on solid ground. His legs wobbled a bit and he bit back the urge to vomit in favor of trying to locate the church.


	12. Chapter 12

After Dean had, mostly, recovered from the nauseating ride on the dragon he started to look around wildly. It wasn't until Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder and turned him in the right direction that he spotted it. "Oh. Thanks." With that, Dean took off running but was stopped short at the entrance to the church. Gabriel was in front of him and Dean growled, now getting tired of the angel once again. "Get out of my way." Gabriel shook his head and put his hands on Dean's shoulders to hold him steady. "Dean, there's a line you need to wait for. The preacher says 'speak now or forever hold your peace' and then you run in and proclaim your love! That's how it's supposed to go!" said Gabriel excitedly. "I don't have time for this you feather brained idiot." Pushing past Gabriel, Dean stormed into the church and brought everyone's attention away from the wedding and to him.

"I object to this marriage and all that jazz." said Dean as he strolled down the aisle and pretended not to notice all the stares directed his way. Castiel, who was up at the alter, was looking down at Dean with narrowed eyes. "What are you doing here, Dean?" Castiel's words were ground out with his teeth clenched tightly together. "Cas...buddy...you can't marry him. You'll never be happy being chained to this Lord Metadouche." said Dean who was now stopped right in front of the stage. "What would you know about happiness, Dean? All you seem to do is wallow in self pity." Castiel snapped back. Okay, yeah, Dean deserved that one but he wasn't going to let that stop him from getting what he wanted. This was his last chance and he certainly wasn't going to piss it away.

"Are we through here? We're almost done with the ceremony so kindly fuck off." said Metatron as he turned to Dean. "Yeah, I don't care what you have to say. I came here to talk to Cas." said Dean with his glare fixed on Metatron. He then hoisted himself up on the stage and walked closer to Castiel. "Please don't marry him. He's not right for you and you know it." There was a long pause before it was interrupted by Metatron's laughter. "Oh, this is too rich. The demon has fallen in love with the prince!" The laughter of the townspeople filled the church as well and it only further served to make Dean feel like he was once again doomed to be conned out of happiness.

Castiel turned to Dean and hesitantly reached out to him. "Dean, is that true?" Before Dean could answer, though, Metatron was interrupting again. Dean was about a few seconds away from punching the king in the face if he kept this up. "That doesn't matter. Castiel, finish this marriage! You accepted my proposal now make it binding!" said Metatron as he grabbed Castiel's wrist and yanked him away from Dean. Castiel yanked his arm back before looking over at the setting sun that was shown outside the church before looking back at Dean. "I...I wanted to tell you before. I just didn't know how."

With that, Castiel took his shirt off which drew scandalized gasps from the audience but he didn't care. All of his attention was focused on Dean because he was the only one that mattered. The change started to happen again and Castiel kept his eyes locked on Dean the whole time, the pain not even breaking into his focus. The wings sprouted from his back and the horns emerged before his blue eyes turned fully black. Dean stood there in shock the whole time it happened, his mouth hung open and his body slack.

When it was over, Castiel stood there just looking at Dean as he waited for a reaction. After picking his jaw up off the floor Dean took a step forward. "That makes a lot of sense now." He was sure that was an understatement but he was more than a bit shocked. Castiel hadn't been calling Dean ugly, he'd been talking about himself. All around that thought was flawed but Dean would tell him later. Now was the time to finally seal it with the kiss he'd been wanting for a while now. Before he could get more than a few feet closer to Castiel, though, Metatron was shouting for guards to take them away.

"Gah, it's hideous! Take him away! As for you, my husband, you are going to be thrown back into the tower for the rest of your natural life." said Metatron as he held a knife to Castiel's neck. Fury raged through Dean as he started fighting through the swarm of knights to get to Castiel. There were just too many, though, and they overpowered Dean. His weak spots were targeted as hands grabbed his wings and pulled on his horns. Pain flashed through him as he tried desperately to fight them off and just get to Castiel. Everything came to a head when a large part of the wall caved in and a dragon shot fire down.

The vast majority of the people on the stage jumped out of the way as the fire burned Metatron to a crisp. After it was gone all that was left of the lord was a pile of ash and a crown that wasn't going to be put to any good use. There was a long pause where everyone stared at the sight before Dean turned to Castiel and smiled at him. "Cas...I don't say something like this easily and I don't when you'll hear it from me again but...I love you." Castiel could only stare at Dean for a while which caused the demon to become a bit nervous. "You know...only if you love me back. If you don't, that's cool. I'll take it back." said Dean as he hoped he really hadn't misjudged the signals he'd been given.

A smile broke out across Castiel's face before he pulled Dean close and kissed him. Dean's arms immediately wrapped around Castiel's waist as he returned the gesture. It was interrupted by Castiel being pulled back and Dean tried to hold onto him before seeing what was happening. The curse was going to break and Castiel would finally be happy with himself. Dean watched in awe as Castiel was raised up as light seemed to just come from every part of him. It was blinding but Dean couldn't bring himself to look away. It ended with Castiel lowered to the floor in a heap and not moving.

Worry raced through Dean as he rushed over and carefully helped Castiel sit up, noticing immediately that the curse hadn't broken in the expected way. Castiel noticed immediately and looked completely devastated. "I...I don't get it. I'm supposed to look attractive now. I'm supposed to be worthy." The smallness of Castiel's voice hurt Dean and he just leaned forward and kissed him again. "Cas...you are worthy. The fact that you're a demon means nothing to me. Don't worry. I'm still gonna have fun discovering the rest of your body." Castiel gave Dean a scandalized look before shoving him away while his eyes rolled. Dean's head tilted back as he laughed and he knew everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it seems we are at an end of this au. Hope you guys enjoyed the ride!


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